One day and counting 'til "Murphy's Law!"

Mornin' Ladies and Gents!

We're happy to welcome our wonderful Ms. Lori Foster to the Vamps and Scamps blog today. I sent her your questions, and she was gracious enough to answer all of them. So here goes...

And don't forget to rush out and buy your copy of Murphy's Law tomorrow!!!

************************************************************************************* 1) Who is your hottest hero to date and why?

That probably depends on whether you’re asking who I think is the hottest, or who readers think is the hottest.
Readers would say Joe Winston or Noah Harper. I get the most reader mail and emails on those two! But I was always super partial to Dane Carter from Beguiled. And I really like Mick Dawson from Caught in the Act. I thought both of them “had it all,” and that really appealed to me.
Bram Giles from Hot & Bothered was a sex fiend, and George Westin from I Love Bad Boys was a mega confident lover.

2) Who is your hottest heroine to date and why?

Oh geez. Do I write hot heroines? That’s hot really a trait that comes to mind when thinking of my heroines.
I guess maybe Ray Vereker from Unexpected. She knew what she wanted and had no real sense of modesty.

3)How do you choose your characters' names?

It’s a random thing. Sometimes I search through the baby name book. Sometimes I see a name listed in the credits on a movie, or in a commercial. I don’t fret over names too much, and I never try to think of “sexy” names. When a character is sexy, he or she makes that connection to the name.

4) Who are some of your favorite authors?

Oh wow, a lot! Let’s see... from my long reading list (meaning I haven’t read them in a while, but I still have a collection of their books that I’ll never give up) Julie Garwood, Johanna Lindsey, Catherine Coulter, Linda Howard... currently, Jayne Ann Krentz, Erin McCarthy, Susan Andersen... probably too many to name, and I’m afraid I’ll forget someone and she’ll end up insulted!

5) What is the funniest love scene you have written?

I’ve written funny “leading up to the love” love scenes, but I sure hope that once they’re “getting’ busy,” the humor stops. ;-)
In When Good Things Happen To Bad Boys, Axel and Libby cracked me up. I don’t know if anyone else laughed, but the scene in his office was, in my own humble opinion, hysterical.
For Chase and Allison, in The Winston Brothers, the ghosts made for some humorous moments.
And in Fallen Angels (2 reissued stories with a new novella) Harris and Clair, because of those funny photos, kept me chuckling while I wrote them.

6) What is the hottest love scene you've written?

I’d have to say the love scenes (probably all of them) in Luring Lucy, from the Hot & Bothered anthology. (St. Martins.) Bram was just all that and a bag of chips, too. The characters more or less create themselves for me, and all I have to do is put them on paper. With Bram, the man was a sex machine and it seemed everything he said and did somehow oozed sensuality.

7) Which of your characters would you most like to see in a series of books and why?

Uh... I’m not sure what you mean. Most of my characters are in a series of books! I write a lot of series. If you mean one character reappearing as the main focus in a series... huh. I dunno. I think maybe I’d pick Clint Evans from Just A Hint-Clint because no matter what I threw at him, he handled it with ease. He could easily go from book to book, kicking butt and keeping Julie Rose happy.

8) Do you do research for your books?

Yup. A lot of research. I’m one of those people who remembers nothing. My kids’ names and birthdays, and that’s about it. Everything else is whoosh, in the brain one moment, gone the next. So when I mention a car in a book, or a type of tree, or a style of house... gotta look it all up on the net.
I’ve also done scads of research on paranormal stuff for Star Quality and Jamie. (Not at all a waste of time because I plan to write books like those some day.)
And I’ve researched police procedures, pipe bombs, clothing styles, rape, scars... See, there’s that memory problem again. I can’t recall all that I’ve researched. But I’ve yet to get through a book without doing the work. It’s all good. Part of the fun, really. And the net makes it so easy to do. Google is a writer’s best friend.

9) What is your favorite part of being an author?

The actual writing. I love it. It’s in my blood. Getting characters on paper and telling their story is my favorite form of entertainment.
I also cherish the interaction with my reader friends online. It’s the perfect way to start my day – coffee and email with kind, generous people. Life is good.

10) What is your least favorite part of being an author?

The pressure. The more popular you get, the higher the expectations.
Promo. Somehow I’m supposed to tout my books, when I’m modest by nature. (Stop laughing, all of you!) Keeping up with the webpage and bookmarks and reader letters and... it all sucks up time.
A small percentage of readers can get really hateful when you disappoint them, and they take it personally, as if you shot their dog or something. Naturally, they HAVE to let you know how badly you suck. It cracks me up. Reviewers love to nitpick. I think stuff like that is annoying, and I hate to be annoyed.
Oh, and worst of all are those all-important lists looming around, forcing a right-brained broad like me to count the numbers, when numbers are soooo not my thing.
If I could just write, and not do the rest of it... it’d be heaven.

11) What have you not written that you would like to?

I’m dying to do some kids’ books. When my boys were younger, I loved bedtime when we’d all sit together and I’d read to them. It’s a very special time. And there are some incredible kids’ books out there! I want one of them to bear my name someday.
Not too long ago, I could have also said horror, but... drum roll please... I have recently agreed to a 2-book deal on a horror series, so that wish has come true. I’m not sure yet when the first of the series (I’m figuring on about 5 books total) will be available, but I’m hoping by 08.

12) Can you describe your typical writing day? I know you're an early riser, but am wondering if you jump right into writing or "play" a bit first. Do you have a daily page quota that you set for yourself? Do you like quiet, or background noise (TV or music) when you write? And like Jill Shalvis, do you work in your bunny slippers? LOL!

Well, I used to be a REALLY early riser – as in up by 4:30 am. But my husband retired this month. Yay! So no more crawling out of bed before the birds. These days, I’m sleeping in til 6, and it feels like I’ve lost a big part of the day, but I love it.
When I stagger out of the bed, I head first to my office to turn on the computer so it can be warming up. Then it’s downstairs to turn on the coffee pot (my husband gets the coffee ready before he goes to bed so even though he doesn’t drink it, all I have to do is switch it on.) and then I let my two fur-babies out. While they’re doing their business I toast a chocolate Pop Tart (or the equivalent of my sugar fix in the morning) and fix my thermal cup of coffee, then the dogs and I stagger back upstairs and I get started on emails.
I like to check my message board, too, and the RT message board, and the Quills site... If I have reader letters to answer, I do that next. Somewhere between 1 and 2 hours later, I get started writing.
I break it up by doing laundry and letting the dogs in and out, and answering phone calls, etc...Periodically I check my emails because I get posts from “business” people.
If it’s a morning when my grandson is here, I like to cuddle him when he first wakes up. It gives my son a chance to grab himself a juice and get his eyes open, and the baby is so sleepy and warm and IDLE first thing in the morning. After 10 minutes, he’s on the go, so I give him back to my son. But I do visit with him a few minutes here and there throughout the day. (He’s with us every other day – it’s wonderful.)
My big goal is to get 10 pages a day written.
I don’t hit my goal all that often.
Things come up, and I’ve found that family members (extended, not hubby and sons) don’t consider my work at home real work. It is what it is, so I don’t get angry with them over it. I just deal with it, and work around it.
Now, my husband and sons are very respectful of my writing time, and that helps.
And on mornings like this, I’m addressing these questions. LOL. If I don’t take care of emails and letters and blogs the day I get them, they might not get handled for weeks. So I try to do things ASAP. It keeps my desk orderly, and I don’t have a pile of things to do, so that when I want to write, I can.
Happy reading everyone!
Thanks for letting me visit.

Lori